Chapter 109: Fighting Fire with Fire

What was he here for?

Could it be… he saw them moving things earlier and got ideas again?

“It’s the guy next door…”

At those words, the room fell into silence. The atmosphere became tense.

Last time, she had helped the wrong person.

“I’ll go…”

As Song Yi spoke, he walked over and opened the door. Then, with a swift move, he stepped outside.

Jiang Yuan followed right behind, and Zhang Kaiyang came out too. Ye Mianmian, seeing Xiao Nuan alone, stayed behind to keep her company.

The three of them came out aggressively, which made the man from 2001 a little scared.

He had been aware of everything that happened in the past couple of days.

“Don’t get me wrong—don’t misunderstand. That old lady from the tenth floor came again just now. I saw her lingering in the hallway for a long time.

I thought maybe she’s up to something again, so I came to let you guys know…”

After saying that, the man kept backing away.

“You’re saying the old woman came again?”

Zhang Kaiyang couldn’t believe it. After all that had happened, she still dared to come back? He had to confirm.

“Yeah, just a little while ago…”

Jiang Yuan looked at him. He didn’t seem to be lying, so her tone softened a bit.

“Okay, got it. Thanks. You should go back now—and be extra cautious tonight. Better block your door with something heavy.”

“Yes, yes, I will! Going back now!”

The man said and quickly ducked back into his own apartment.

“Strange. The old lady went upstairs, but there’s been no noise.

With the surveillance in the house, my parents should’ve seen something. Why haven’t they come down?”

Jiang Yuan wasn’t the only one puzzled—everyone else looked confused too.

“But that guy didn’t seem like he was lying…”

Zhang Kaiyang still felt they should trust the neighbor. Ye Mianmian nodded.

“Yeah, he had no reason or motive to deceive us.”

Song Yi didn’t say anything. Instead, he walked toward the stairs.

He paused after three steps. Jiang Yuan saw him stop and couldn’t help but ask, “What is it?”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he crouched down, pulled out a flashlight, inspected the floor carefully, sniffed it, and touched it…

Everyone was dumbfounded by his actions and didn’t dare to interrupt.

“Alright. Let’s go back downstairs. I know what happened now.”

Everyone sensed this wasn’t a minor issue, so they didn’t ask further and returned to apartment 2002.

“Brother Song, what’s going on?”

Zhang Kaiyang asked first, and the others looked at him curiously.

“The old woman really did come—and she sabotaged something.”

“But then, why didn’t my parents notice anything?”

Song Yi turned and looked her in the eye, his tone serious.

“Because your home surveillance only covers the stairwell.”

“Yeah, so…?”

Jiang Yuan’s eyes lit up as she suddenly understood. “You mean…?”

With just a glance, Song Yi knew she had caught on and didn’t beat around the bush anymore.

“The cameras only see the stairwell area—not the staircase itself. Every day, we go up and down via the stairs.

I checked. They waxed the left side of the stairs.”

“What?! Why would they wax the left side?”

Ye Mianmian was confused, but Jiang Yuan, with her background in building materials, quickly got the picture.

“Once something is waxed, it becomes slippery. If it’s newly waxed hardwood flooring, it’s very easy to slip.

Even on cement, while the effect is reduced, using enough wax can still create a slick film.”

“Damn that old hag! That’s so malicious!”

Zhang Kaiyang was furious. He was always indignant at social injustice—he was the kind of guy who’d speak up when seniors bullied young people on buses.

“Yeah, bad people getting old is the worst. But why only the left side?”

Wouldn’t doing the whole stairwell have a better effect?

“Because people tend to stick to the right when going up and down.

Going up isn’t too dangerous, but going down? The left side when going up is the right side when looking down.”

“Damn, if she put that kind of intelligence to better use, she could’ve been somebody!”

Seriously.

“So what do we do now?

And also, the guy from 2001 told us on purpose. Shouldn’t we thank him somehow?”

“No need. That was his way of showing goodwill.”

He was making his stance clear—smart guy. For now, they were on the same side.

“And downstairs…”

Ye Mianmian looked at Jiang Yuan, knowing full well she wouldn’t just let this go.

“Fight fire with fire.”

When Song Yi looked over, Jiang Yuan was deep in thought.

They didn’t have any floor wax at home—how would they pull this off?

“I’ve got some at home.”

“You do?”

“Mm.”

Unlike Jiang Yuan’s excitement, Song Yi was calm.

“Let’s finish eating first. We’ll go later.”

“No, I’m going to tell my parents first. Xiao Nuan, come with Mommy.”

“Okay!”

The little girl responded cheerfully and reached up for her mother to carry her.

“I’ll walk you down.”

When Jiang Zhenxing and Qin Yue heard what had happened, they were furious—but also felt helpless.

Jiang Yuan left Xiao Nuan with her parents and went with Song Yi to grab the floor wax and head back downstairs.

The hot pot dinner hadn’t ended yet. Everyone was still chatting excitedly.

It felt like they weren’t the ones being targeted. It had just been so long since they had a moment to relax.

Sometimes, thinking about it—it was hard not to feel nostalgic for the old world that had ended.

“This wind’s really calmed down, huh?”

“Yeah, and the rain too. Wonder what comes next…”

Everyone’s hands were already dirty, and honestly, those behind everything probably wouldn’t avoid jail time later.

Ye Mianmian felt a little melancholy about it all.

Zhang Kaiyang quickly changed the subject. No use dwelling on sad things.

At 10 PM, they sprang into action.

There wasn’t any noise coming from apartment 1501. To avoid hurting the innocent, they applied the wax just in front of that unit’s door.

Because it was liquid, all they needed was a flat mop to spread it around.

If they had more time, they could’ve waited for it to dry and applied a second layer—for better effect.

They worked quietly, and when Jiang Yuan saw their handiwork at the door, she was quite pleased.

On ceramic tiles, the effect was even better than on cement.

Enjoy it while it lasts, old hag.

After heading back upstairs, the four of them split up.

“Jiang Yuan, what are your thoughts on that family in 1501?”

Song Yi asked in the stairwell as they walked back.

“Let’s wait and see. The events from yesterday are still fresh, and plenty of eyes are watching. Let’s not draw too much attention.”

Truth be told, they were already drawing quite a bit.

“Mm. Get some sleep soon.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Yuan still felt they were too few in number to fight the crowd—better not make enemies of everyone.

There’d be plenty of chances later.